Photoquality 750z

[Rero]

I want to buy an optio 750z but I hear different noises about photoquality.
I want to use the camera for making pictures of landscapes en portraits from people when we are travelling around the world.

Can you give me your experience?

Thanks,

René :)

[Rex914]

The 750z isn't a very good choice if you want to take pictures of landscapes because the starting focal length (37.5mm) isn't wide. You might be better off going for the S70 instead if landscapes are important for you.

The following is a visual comparison between a wide-angle lens and a standard one.

http://www.dcresource.com/faq/28mm.jpg http://www.dcresource.com/faq/36mm.jpg

The one on the left is wide angle. See the difference?

[ChrisC]

I personally travelled around Thailand and Cambodia with the 750z and was basically very happy with it. The wide angle occasionally limited me, but I must confess I am a recent addict of creating panoramas (taking many pictures and stitching them together). When you stitch photos into huge panoramas covering anything from 90 degrees up to full 360 degrees, the difference between a 28mm and 37mm lens doesn't make that much difference!

Having said that, there are a couple of issues that I came across when using my camera while travelling:

There was occasional "smudging" in the corners of the picture, although in most cases it wasn't noticeable.
Very occasionally the camera would have an internal spasm and be unable to focus on something (anything). I would have to turn it off and turn it on to get the focussing back to normal. Unfortunately, in a couple of cases, I didn't see how bad the focusing was until after I'd left the place... :(
The 5x zoom was an absolute lifesaver in quite a few cases - there aren't many cameras the size of the 750z that offer one like it. And starting from a 37mm "wide" angle, this meant I could get in pretty close to things when I wanted to.
Reviewing photos isn't the fastest, which can sometimes be frustrating. I didn't mind too much, though, because I mainly reviewed and deleted photos in the evenings. (A large memory card helps this.)
Having taken lots of photos with it and come back home, I do sometimes wish I had a RAW mode, so I could fix up white balance problems. They were my own fault (leaving it on a manual setting by mistake), but it would be nice to change it with the full range of image data at hand. Never bothered with the TIFF format though.
The movie mode, although I originally thought it'd be a gimick, was extremely good, and actually pretty useful for capturing the "essence" of an experience. Nothing like stumbling across a bunch of Thai schoolkids unenthusiastically doing their morning aerobics to pumped-up gym instructors... still photos wouldn't have cut it!


Hope some of these comments help your decision. I'd definitely choose the 750Z again for travelling, given my experience. Just watch the focusing.

Cheers,
Chris

[pmnapier]

Hope some of these comments help your decision. I'd definitely choose the 750Z again for travelling, given my experience. Just watch the focusing.

Cheers,
Chris
Chris, very nice write-up/review. I'm looking very seriously at the 750Z. The pictures I've looked at on the various review sites have looked very good; very sharp with good color and exposure (in my opinion). Your review helps me immensely. Other than the corner problems you mention (as have many reviews), how do you find overall sharpness? And did you experience any significant problems with shutter lag and shot to shot delays?

[speaklightly]

Paul-

I have used the Pentax 750Z rather extensively and have found it very dependable and capable of great digital photos. The sharpness of the 750Z is quite equal to the much heralded Canon G-6.

Here is an example taken against strong backlighting, which is generally a difficult situation. The 750Z handled the situation quite well and produced great sharpness. Iknew your name because I am a friend of Geoff Chandler.

Sarah Joyce

[pmnapier]

Thanks for the input Sarah. I had forgotten I posted to this thread - hey, it was March 4. I've since become convinced of the fine quality of the 750Z, having downloaded many, many samples from all of the 7 MP group. Still weighing options - obviously in no hurry - still using a KM Z2. No single camera has everything, but if I wait long enough, you never know. Thanks again.

Paul

[speaklightly]

Take Your Time, Paul-

Just know that the Pentax 750Z is quite a digital camera and it is capable of great photos and very high quality.

Sarah Joyce

[ChrisC]

Chris, very nice write-up/review. I'm looking very seriously at the 750Z. The pictures I've looked at on the various review sites have looked very good; very sharp with good color and exposure (in my opinion). Your review helps me immensely. Other than the corner problems you mention (as have many reviews), how do you find overall sharpness? And did you experience any significant problems with shutter lag and shot to shot delays?

Glad it was a help to you.

I would have to say that overall sharpness has been excellent. As long as the focus locks OK and you don't have camera shake (which is very possible in dim light and with the zoom extended), the sharpness has been very very good - and I even turned the default sharpening to -1 to preserve the original image better.

Shutter lag was fine after the focus was locked - I didn't time it but I never had problems for the sorts of shots I took. Action shots may be different, but I can't say because I don't tend to take action shots so much. Shot to shot delays are OK but not great. If you turn off the after-shot preview it is much quicker. Still, many of my shots were scenery or buildings, although my wife reckons I miss lots of interesting action shots because I'm too busy trying to get the framing perfect! :)

Cheers,
Chris